When Wei’en saw the message, he stared at the Marco in front of him and exclaimed, "Sister Lisi, watch out!"

The words had barely left his mouth when a cold glint flashed past.

SWOOSH!

Lisi reacted instantly, dodging to the side and placing herself between Marco, Wei’en, and Tina. "Thousand-faced Clelia?"

Clelia slowly rose to her feet, tilting her head as she sized up Wei’en. "How did you find me out?"

CLICK.

Wei’en didn’t answer. He drew his flintlock from his waist, quickly loaded it with powder, and aimed at her with both hands.

’Damn it, even if I knew how I found you out, I couldn’t just tell you, could I?’

’If it weren’t for the panel’s notification, if it weren’t for Lisi being here... I would’ve been a goner!’

"What did you do to Marco?" Lisi asked, her expression chilling.

Clelia turned her head stiffly to look at her and smiled eerily. "Guess~"

"Guess?"

Lisi charged straight at her. In a flash, her Two-Handed Axe appeared in her hands. "Aled!" (Dharma Seal: Shatter!)

BOOM.

Clelia leaped back to dodge, her form instantly changing into that of the charming woman. "My dear lady, you’re not very elegant~"

’Elegant?’

With a cold expression, Lisi charged again, swinging her Two-Handed Axe in a cleaving strike. "Asriel!" (Dharma Seal: Gale Blade!)

Clelia nimbly backflipped, once again dodging the Wind Blade, and chuckled. "My dear lady, you... Oof?"

BANG!

A gunshot rang out.

Clelia slowly looked down, staring in a daze at the gaping hole in her chest and the spray of blood and flesh.

She turned to look at Wei’en on the other side, the smile vanishing from her face. She asked coldly, "Don’t you know you’re not supposed to interrupt an elegant lady when she is speaking?"

Wei’en’s hands, holding the flintlock, trembled slightly. "How about... we try that again?"

He had fired the gun.

And he had hit his mark.

Looking at the hole in Clelia’s chest, it was obvious she couldn’t survive such a wound.

In other words, he had killed someone!

Even though Wei’en had lived two lives, this was the first time he had ever killed someone. It was just... too nerve-wracking!

"Try again..."

The coldness on Clelia’s face vanished, replaced once more by a charming smile. "Little one, I’ll let it slide this time. We’ll have a proper play session next time. I promise~ You’ll love it~"

THUD.

After speaking, the smile on her face froze, and she fell backward to the ground.

Lisi put away her Two-Handed Axe and pursed her lips. "Annoying as expected."

"Captain,"

Wei’en looked at ’Clelia’ on the ground and gave a dry laugh. "Do you think what she just said is true?"

’Someone that terrifying can’t seriously be bored enough to target me, right?’

"What, scared?" Lisi raised an eyebrow. "Weren’t you acting all brave when you fired that shot?"

"Scared? What’s there to be scared of? Haha, not scared at all!"

’Like hell I’m not scared...’

Wei’en now fully understood. Forget goals and meaning; staying alive was the top priority.

"That’s the spirit. She’s just a woman who hides her face and scurries in the shadows,"

Lisi patted his shoulder, then turned her head and yelled, "Ariana, are you having fun watching the show from up there?"

"Coming."

Ariana scurried down, chuckling sheepishly. "Lisi, your strength has improved again. That power, that presence, the might of your Dharma Seals..."

THWACK!

Lisi punched him on the head. "Get to work! See if you can pick up that bitch’s scent!"

"Aye, on it, on it."

Ariana clutched his head in pain, opened the case he was carrying, took out a glass bottle, and poured the potion inside onto Clelia’s body.

With a SIZZLE, Clelia’s body dissolved into a puddle of foul-smelling yellow liquid.

Wei’en watched him and asked, "Captain Ariana, what number Magic Potion is that?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Ariana searched around carefully before using the bottle to collect some of the liquid. "It’s a special Magic Potion, specifically for tracking Extraordinaries who use clones or puppets."

"Oh."

’So it’s not one of the standard-issue Magic Potions.’

’Wait,’

Wei’en suddenly remembered using Magic Potion Number Five when he faced those forces of despair.

"So, how do we restock the Magic Potions we’ve used?"

"Just write a requisition form when we get back," Lisi said offhandedly. "Speaking of which, a case investigation report also needs to be written. I’m assigning it to you."

"Me?"

"That’s right. Roger was responsible for it before... Don’t say I don’t look out for you. Writing the report gets you one percent of the investigation’s earnings."

’Investigation’s earnings?’

The moment Wei’en heard money was involved, he quickly agreed. "No problem. Writing and all that, it’s my specialty."

’One percent... that’s a profit of almost 1 gold pound.’

’At my old job as an Intelligence Officer for the Ghost Soul School, I’d have to do daily updates for over a month to earn this much.’

"Officer Lisi, Captain Ariana,"

Just then, Marco came running over from a distance, his face ashen. He yelled, "Clelia from the Eternal Life Association, she killed all the City Guards!"

"Mm."

Lisi nodded calmly. "Pack up the sacrifices inside. We’re going back."

"Huh?" Marco froze for a second. "But Clelia, she..."

Ariana put away the bottle and stood up. "Marco, Clelia was just here, disguised as you."

"Ah?" Marco looked at Wei’en. "Is that true?"

Wei’en nodded. "Yes, thankfully the captain discovered her in time."

"...Damn it, I knew she was after my body!"

"Hmm?"

Both Ariana and Wei’en turned to look at him. ’His body? Intentions? Tell us more.’

Marco: "...I’ll go upstairs and bring down the sacrifices."

After he had smashed and bagged all the desiccated corpses, the group returned to the City Guards’ location.

Or rather, the bodies of the City Guard.

Lisi stood before the bodies of the City Guards, her expression calm, and instructed Marco to find other City Guards to collect their fallen comrades.

Ariana, meanwhile, was counting the corpse fragments on the side, muttering that doing things this way would cause a twenty percent loss in gold pounds.

Marco looked sorrowful, cradling Guiseppi’s body and wailing dryly about losing a like-minded drinking buddy.

Only Tina remained as she was before, clinging to Wei’en’s arm as if they were attached.

And Wei’en wasn’t idle either; he was checking his gains on the panel.

He hadn’t expected that the shot he fired would actually grant him an extra reward, just as he had guessed.

And it was a skill reward, at that—

[You pulled the trigger and killed the puppet of Clelia Yuli Biondini. Evaluation: Congratulations, you have achieved First Kill. Special Reward: Resilience Level +1, Spirit Level +1.]

[You have hit an enemy (living creature) with a flintlock, unlocking a new skill - Basic Marksmanship. Your accuracy with firearms is increased.]

[Note: Unfortunately, this is not a game. Your accuracy cannot be represented by a numerical value, nor can it be auto-corrected. To put it plainly, Basic Marksmanship is equivalent to you having undergone 1000 rounds of shooting practice.]

Wei’en stared at Basic Marksmanship and the upgradeable option next to it, speechless for a long moment.

’But I’m a Wizard from the Ghost Soul School,’

’Am I supposed to go into fights with a Magic Staff in my left hand and a flintlock in my right?’

’The image just seems so... incongruous...’

After considering it for a long time, he couldn’t decide whether to upgrade the marksmanship skill. ’I’ll decide tonight after I get back and look into it.’

"Let’s go."

After Lisi finished her handover with the arriving City Guard captain, she led the group back to the Secret Investigation Department.

But compared to the relaxed mood on the way there, the group was somewhat silent on the way back.

Even the usually optimistic and cheerful Marco was quiet, making the atmosphere feel rather heavy.

"Lisi, I’m off to investigate another case. As for the earnings, I’ll find you when I get back."

Just after they crossed Golden Street, Ariana spoke up to take his leave.

Lisi said coolly, "Just go find Yegor. I’ll give him your share along with the department’s."

"That works too," Ariana nodded. "I’m off. Good luck to you all."

"You too."

Not long after, the group returned to the Secret Investigation Department. Lisi pushed open Yegor’s door and yelled, "You bastard!"

Hearing her furious roar, Marco and Wei’en quickly shut the door in fright and ran back to the Investigation Department One office with Tina.

"Is she... always this..." Wei’en dug a finger in his ear. That roar had nearly shattered his eardrums.

"Don’t be fooled by how calm she seemed earlier. She was already furious when she saw those desiccated corpses."

Marco tossed aside the package in his hands and sighed. "You get used to it."

"I see..."

’So that’s what Lisi meant by being numb—that kind of calm.’

’And her anger... is real anger.’